she did not take the lead as much as obama and the u.s. had hoped, but she has gotten better. >> there is this a dominant role, and we do not have much of a say, even though since spring, our president, unlike his predecessor, sarkozy, has tried to stand up to the german chancellor more. >> president francois hollande, together with italy and spain, pushed back against germany's strict austerity plans for europe. the amended year, there was a sense that germany might cut in its place, the southern european countries were going to build up a counterbalance, but that has not really been borne out. especially since hollande never followed through with his drive to renegotiate the fiscal pact. that did not happen. >> for germany, that meant sticking to the status quo. chancellor merkel met with the greek prime minister in october. she made it clear that austerity remains the number one priority, but her message is not popular with the greek people. >> i know that these reforms demand a lot from people in those countries that are especially har